Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a barrier opening system for emergency escape and rescue, through which a barrier can be opened immediately by a prestress/restoring force in the shortest possible time without having to break through the barrier in case of emergency.
Description of the Related Art
For access control barriers such as fire-proof barriers, smoke-proof barriers, and emergency exits, a vertical acting barrier is widely used. Current Building/Fire Law has strict regulations for the exits and entrances of a public space where many people gather, especially for stores and multi-family residence that have no escape barrier but only one exit and entrance, and for the safety standards of compartment barriers and/or emergency exits. In case of emergency or imminent danger, a vertical acting barrier must be opened as quickly as possible, even without electricity and external assistances, to prevent the barrier from seizing shut, trapping people, vehicles, or property inside.
With regard to a conventional vertical acting barrier, a brake mechanism maintains in a brake state when an electric motor does not rotate in normal time, and a barrier bolt device is used to lock the vertical acting barrier at lower dead point when the vertical acting barrier reaches the lower dead point. By this vertical acting barrier, in case of emergency, for example, a fire breaks out, an earthquake occurs, or a flood hits, the barrier bolt must be released before a switch can be activated to open the vertical acting barrier. If there is no power supply, a manual mode must be taken, in which a brake release lever has to be actuated to release the brake, and a pull chain has to be pulled to rotate a pull-chain disc in order to open the barrier.
The above-mentioned vertical acting barrier cannot be opened by intuitive response. In case of emergency, to open the vertical acting barrier, one has to learn the way to operate beforehand, and must be strong enough to operate. Such manual mode operation would be difficult to the elderly, disabled, pregnant women, and children, and would cause a delay in evacuation. Furthermore, from the rescue aspect, police officers/firefighters can not enter the building without a key for such conventional vertically acting barrier if an emergency occurs indoors, and they have to break through the vertical acting barrier by force. Not only is the property damaged, but also a delay in rescue results.
Presently, a new rescue concept is provided. For example, a master key can be used to enter commercial and residential buildings. In North America, it is common practice for building owners to provide the police officers/firefighters with a Knox access. The Knox access is mainly a master key, which can open the automatic barriers or lock gates of all buildings directly or can open a storage box in which a key set is kept. As such, police officers/firefighters can have access to a master key from the storage box, and enter the building for fire rescue without having to break through the barrier, which will cause damage to the property, and result in a fire rescue delay.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,537,038 issued to the present inventor proposes a “Release Control Mechanism for Emergency Exit” with the intention to reduce the time and simplify the steps for opening the barrier. Some examples of applications relating to known vertical acting barriers are provided in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,460, U.S. Pat. No. 7,448,426, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,610,719.